San Francisco Giants Pitcher Voluntarily Gives Back $500K of His Salary

After years of steroids allegations, it’s nice to hear about a baseball player who doesn’t cheat.

San Francisco Giants relief pitcher Jeremy Affeldt returned $500,000 that was accidentally added to his contract when he signed an extension in 2010.

Affeldt was slated to rake in $4 million in 2010 when his new deal called for a two-year extension worth $10 million. However, whoever wrote the contract accidentally punched in $4.5 million. Both Affeldt and the Giants signed the contract without anyone realizing he was getting an extra half million dollars.

Eventually, the left-hander realized the snafu and even though he could legally take the money, he balked and told Giants assistant GM Bobby Evans he had to restructure the deal:

"I talked to Bobby the next day and said, 'I can't take that money. I won't sleep well at night knowing I took that money because every time I open my paycheck I'll know it's not right.'"

Affeldt didn’t have to worry about losing any sleep. The contract was re-written for the proper amount.

Karma seems to have rewarded Affeldt. The Giants won the World Series in 2010 (and again last year). And his honesty literally seems to have paid off -- he signed a three-year contract for $18 million this past off-season.